Erika’s POV
I just woke up from the coma and my responses were slow. I wanted to let him know how I regretted it, but I didn’t know how to put it in words. So I looked at him blankly. I noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the stubble on his chin. They all reminded me what a huge mistake I made.
I’m sorry. I mind-linked him and lowered my eyes.
“Save that! We both know that you won’t stop escaping,” he growled.
He suddenly raised his voice and gave me a start. I trembled out of control.
After I agreed to meet him halfway and become the Luna, he had never growled at me like this. He had a great tolerance for my unruliness and sometimes I would forget that he was a cruel and savage Alpha.
I bit my lips and didn’t know how to convince him. I wanted to let him know that I was overwhelmed with remorse and guilt, but he wouldn’t believe it and I had only myself to blame.
He raised my chin and rubbed it with his fingers.
“You don’t even deny it, do you?” he sneered.
His sneer touched my sore spot.
I… I tried to mind-link him something, but I tugged at my hair and didn’t know how to put it in phrases.
“So tell me how did you escape after taking wolfsbane? Did you already plan to escape when you knew Blood Day? Why is being a fighter so important to you? Why are you trying to run away from me all the time?” he growled with his chest rising and falling wildly. He looked so furious that I wouldn’t be surprised if he beat me the next second.
I’m born immune to wolfsbane. It weakens me, but I can recover quickly. I answered him through mind-link honestly.
He raised his eyebrows at me. “I’ve asked you about yourself. You didn’t tell me that.”
I realized that he was talking about the lunch in a fancy restaurant.
I left it out because I knew I could use wolfsbane to escape. I answered.
“Did you lie about other things?” he looked me in the eye and asked sternly.
I shook my head.
“Go ahead.”
I’ve been planning to escape since I knew that the security will be at its weakest on Blood Day. But I changed my mind soon. I gave it up and really wanted to be a Luna. Then I knew about Richard’s death. I was the last one to know it. It alarmed me that I was not important anymore if I couldn’t fight. So I decided to leave you.
I told him my thoughts through mind-link.
“That’s it? Did you escape because of this? That’s about your former pack, so I didn’t tell you. I don’t think it’s a big deal. Erika, you make me so confused. Why do you insist on being a fighter?” he held my face and kept asking.
No, that was close to the part that I didn’t want to mention, but he seemed determined to know the answer. As usual, I downplayed the trauma that the kidnap brought to me.
Derek, I once told you that I was kidnapped and almost killed when I was thirteen. Though I was saved by Charles, I still dreamed of it. The nightmares kept haunting me until the day I became the Gamma. I’m always alone and unprotected, that’s why I need to be a warrior. I can’t rely on others to protect me. I mind-linked him, trying to look as calm as possible.
“Not even your mate?” he asked.
I didn’t know how to reply to him. I was used to dealing with everything on my own. But I remembered how he reassured me that he would save me when I was almost desperate. I was willing to give it a try, seriously. But I didn’t tell him because I knew he wouldn’t believe it.
He raised my face and forced me to look at him.
“Erika, I want you to be very clear. I’ll be the one who protects you for the rest of your life. I don’t care if you want it or not. Now you are awake, you’ll be accompanied by at least two guards at day. I’ll be here with you at night. After you recover, I’ll bring you with me wherever I go and I’ll leave you no chance to escape,” he answered as he put one arm around my shoulder and slid down my arm. “Right, you’ve been shackled. How does it feel? I gave you a diamond and you don’t want it. Maybe you prefer a chain,” he said as he gave me a meaningful look, which set my heart racing.
“And I have another bone to pick with you,” he added.
I looked up at him, not knowing what he meant. I had cheated him on so many things and I was not sure what he was talking about.
“We should’ve had sex days ago. You owed me that,” he said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He leaned over and touched my neck with his lips, giving me goosebumps. Goddess, he was like a completely different person. He was dominant and aggressive. But I had to admit it, I liked it.
He slid his hand into my hospital gown and caressed my body, most parts of which were wrapped in bandages. I wondered what he wanted to do.
He rubbed the bandage on my thigh while he nibbled at my ear. I leaned against his arms and couldn’t help but tremble.
Suddenly, he stopped somewhere near my thigh and pressed on the bandage with his fingers.
I grimaced and bit my lips because of the sudden pain. He didn’t stop. Instead, he pressed it harder.
“You deserve it. There will be more punishments,” he said threateningly.
Please don’t… I begged him through mind-link.
He withdrew his hands and smirked. “That’s not like you. Where are your daggers?”
I mind-linked him. Believe it or not, I won’t escape anymore.
He stiffened and stared at me, trying to figure out if I lied or not. I looked him in the eye and didn’t conceal anything.
At this moment, someone knocked on the door.
It was Angel followed by Carl and Sylvia.
I lay on the bed again and felt a little embarrassed. After all, when I cheated Derek, I also cheated his pack members. As a Luna who betrayed them, I didn’t know how to face them.
“Erika!” Angel ran toward me and looked very excited. I heaved a sigh of relief. She treated me still the same. Then I glanced at Derek. It seemed that she wasn’t punished by Derek.
“She’s on a drip.” Seeing that Angel ran to me, Derek gestured for her to stop.
“OK.” Angel lowered her head and stepped back.
“I need to leave now. Take good care of her,” he said and left.
As soon as he left, Angel sat beside the bed immediately. Carl and Sylvia also crowded around me.